


Doom & Date

by Blue_Five



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, End of the World, M/M, Planet Destruction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-05
Updated: 2014-08-05
Packaged: 2018-02-11 20:50:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2082705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Five/pseuds/Blue_Five
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the Destiel Ficlet Challenge on Tumblr -- prompt:  “The world is about to end, how would Person A and Person B spend their last night(s) together?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Doom & Date

Dean Winchester stares at the big blue and white marble filling his view screen while he taps his fingers on the flight console of his ship. It’s hard knowing he won’t be seeing that familiar sight for a few years, maybe a couple of decades even.  Melancholy settles in Dean’s heart and he looks up at the overhead control panel.  Tucked there is a photo of a handsome man with bright blue eyes and dark, mussed hair looking at the camera with a fond smile.  Dean hears the subject of the shot talking in a deep, gravelly voice.

“Why you insist on such an archaic method of archiving our time together is beyond me, Dean.”

Dean chuckles to himself at the memory of that particular day. He’d spent the morning walking his family’s farm with Castiel Novak, the small-town doctor he’d fallen head over heels in love with three years prior.  They’d spent the afternoon lazily making love by the creek that bordered the property and that night tucked in their bed under the eaves of his family’s farmhouse.  He’d proposed as the moon was rising to spill long silver fingers in the dormer window.  A week later, in front of friends and family, he’d put a ring on Castiel’s finger and promised to love him forever on the banks of the same creek.  Dean swallows hard as a lump forms in his throat.  He remembers thinking everything had been perfect.  He remembers believing nothing would ever change that.  He remembers when it all fell apart.

He’d taken a commission with the Planetary Defense Squads when Earth became a way-stop for various other races and worlds. He loved flying and being in space.  Dean found himself off-world more often than not and after the fights started, it became easier to stay at the orbiting station instead of taking the shuttle home.  When Castiel came for an unscheduled visit and found Dean not-so-alone in his cabin, everything ended.  Dean hadn’t contested the divorce and had given his younger brother Sam the farm, moving to the station with what little he possessed. Four years, seven days and sixteen hours after he’d told Castiel he would be with him forever, they were done and over.  Now, eight months after that, Dean still feels tears burning whenever the import of his actions strikes him.  He gently runs a finger down the picture.

“Sorry I hurt you, angel … I’m never gonna find someone like you ever again on this world or any other.”

The cockpit door zips open and Dean jerks his hand down, hiding the movement behind a cough. Sam folds his 6’4” frame into the co-pilot chair and inclines his head to Dean before settling in and doing his pre-launch checklist.

Dean feels an undefinable ache when he looks at Sam – whereas he’d pissed his love away on a stupid career and one terrible decision, Sam had treasured each and every moment he’d shared with his wife, Jessica. Jess had been bubbly, blonde with a mind like a steel trap and a body that wouldn’t quit.  She’d been a force of nature and just what romantic Sammy had needed to ground him.  Giving birth to their first baby, however, had ended their dreams.  Sam passed the farm along to Castiel to use for his practice and made plans to leave with Dean to the outer rim colonies.  It was the perfect escape from the world that reminded him of nothing but Jess.

“What’s the hold up, Sammy?” Dean asks, doing his own checklist again.

“It’s the core drill project. They’re going set off the drill point just under the arctic seabed … it’s closest.  They wanted no active warp fields in orbit just in case,” Sam explains while checking readouts.

Dean sighs. “Perfect.  Didn’t I hear this project was pretty dangerous?”

Sam nods and glances over at his brother. “If they miss the drill point by even a little, there’s a chance they could split the planet right down the middle.”

“Oh, well … that sounds like it’ll be worth it,” Dean mutters.

Sam rolls his eyes. “Dean, there are teams of scientists working on this project from every country in the world. Nevermind the computing power they’ve been using to crunch every fathomable number … I highly doubt they’re going to get it wrong. When they succeed, they’ll be able to use what they learn to further our understanding of how the Earth works … they’ll be able to learn how the core keeps us all stable and alive. Think of the applications! I mean, we could terraform entire worlds – hell, we could create worlds!”

Dean grins at his suddenly enthusiastic little brother. Sam realizes Dean’s amusement and frowns. Dean shoves him companionably.

“You big nerd,” Dean teases. “Hey, we should tap and record the newscasts until we’re outta system … colonials’ll pay nice change for copies of actual vids from Earth even if they are boring.”

Sam smirks, going back to his console. “Already ahead of you … I’ve got at least twenty-four hours off the entertainment streams and all of today’s newscasts. We should have a good view of the core drill from orbit.”

Dean chuckles. “Yeah, yeah, ok … I can’t do anymore pre-check. We’re either ready or we aren’t.” He presses his comm link switch. “Yo, Bobby! You gonna be ready to hit the road once the launch hold is lifted?”

“Of course I am, you idjit … whaddya think I’m doin’ down here? My knittin’?” Comes the brusque reply.

Bobby Singer is a miracle worker who works on anything that moves under mechanical means. He keeps Dean's ship, _Ramble On_ , in perfect condition.  Bobby had become the Winchester’s farmhand after the death of his wife Karen.  When a car accident had taken Sam and Dean’s parents, he’d stepped in and practically raised them.  Dean sighs thinking his ship is crewed by three broken men.  Still, he knows he wouldn’t have anyone else with him out in the black.  He glances over at Sam who has crawled under the console tweaking something out of boredom.  Just as his eyes swing back to the main screen, a blinding flash of light fills it.  Dean yells in pain, his arm thrown up too late to shield his gaze.  Sam, startled by Dean’s shout, raises up too quickly, cracking the back of his skull on the unforgiving console edge.  He curses loudly and curls back over, clutching his head in one broad hand.  Later, he’ll realize that it’s all that saved him from Dean’s fate.

The ship rocks violently as if on a rough sea and Sam straightens in time to see the shields flowing down over the ship. The light in the cockpit dims considerably and Sam looks over at Dean.  He reaches over to grip his brother’s arm tightly at what he sees.

“Dean!”

Sam gives a horrified gasp when Dean looks over at him, blinking blood red eyes furiously. His eyelids and skin around his eyes is seriously burned.  Alarms blare at them and the cockpit speakers fill with frantic transmissions between ships calling for help.

“Don’t worry about me, Sammy … what the fuck was that?!?” Dean barks, fighting to clear his hazy sight.

Sam begins calling up the planetary news displays but everything is overridden by a single emergency broadcast that suddenly flashes the width of their view screen and echoes ominously over the comm links in a flat female voice. Neither brother comments on the fact that it’s only two words with no details.

***EVACUATE OFFWORLD***

Dean clears the warning notice and straps on his flight harness. He slaps the comm switch, grateful he knows his ship down to the rivets so he doesn’t have to _see_ every switch and button.  “Bobby! I’m opening her up … keep her hot this is not gonna be an easy ride.”

“What the fuck’s going on up there, you two?” Bobby yells back. They hear him running through the engine room to his main control desk.

Sam’s hands have been flying over his console since the emergency beacon began going off. “Scans are garbled but I think --- fuck, I think they cracked the planet …” Sam’s voice fades as the import of those words sink in.

Dean has no time to offer an opinion as his blurred vision makes out shapes coming toward the ship. He barks a warning, “Sammy!  Harness!” before throwing the _Ramble_ into a steep dive and then leveling off to avoid the outgoing wave.  Sam buckles in and skims over the steady stream of data from the ship’s scanners.

“Catastrophic events all over, Dean … the crack is widening … we’ve got to get – Dean?”

Dean focuses his attention on flying. He knows he only has one chance at this --- if he fails, he and his small crew will die along with the planet the human race has called home for so long but his mind is zeroed in on one person:  Castiel.

“Dean!” Sam yells as he fights to keep up with his brother’s flying.

“I’m not leaving him behind, Sammy!” Dean shouts, ready to fight his brother off bodily.

Sam curses as they ride a particularly hard turbulence and his harness fights to keep him seated. He tries very hard not to see the growing glow over the horizon of the Earth.  The devastation wrought by man will take the planet apart soon and if they are anywhere near it …

“I’m not trying to talk you out of it; I’m trying to get you to listen to me!” Sam says, panic just beneath his voice. “I’m putting the nav-com on audio … she’ll be able to guide you in that way. Turn into the waves when they announce, it’ll keep us from shaking to pieces.”

Dean nods, not trusting himself to talk. He sends a silent ‘thank you’ to whatever deity is listening for his little brother.  His desperation to reach his ex-husband would override his sense if not for Sam.  Now fully in his position as co-pilot, Sam flips a switch and the navigation system begins reading out their position in a steady, calm voice.  Dean feels the _Ramble_ change direction and angles her toward a large continent, heading for a place called Lawrence, Kansas.  He’s grateful he can’t really see what’s coming at him because he suspects he’d have a good old-fashioned freak out if he could.  As it is, he hears Sam’s uneven gasps.  Dean wishes he could reach over and comfort his brother but he doesn’t dare take his attention from the console.  Sam fiddles with the comm, drilling down through frequencies overflowing with too much traffic until he finds the one he wants – he sends his own prayer that the people he’s trying to reach are somewhere close to the house comm panel. 

“Gabe! Castiel! Do you read?”

Static replies. Dean levels out and the terrain flies past as the sky turns orange.  Sam keeps calling for Castiel and his older brother, Gabriel.  Dean hears the tremor beginning to bleed through as no one answers.  Sam is about to tell Dean they’re too late when a voice squawks across the link.

“Moose?? What the hell are you doing you huge, wonderful drink of water?!?” Gabriel Novak is a self-admitted clown who never takes life seriously but both Winchesters hear the barely controlled terror beneath the joking voice.

Dean sends them into another steep dive before leveling out just over the treetops it seems. Sam yells to be heard over a growing roar that pierces even the metal hull of the ship.

“We’re coming to get you … get outside … the transporter has a short range!” Sam yells.

“No!” commands a deep, gravel-filled voice. “No … you have to get out of orbit, Sam! Dean! Don’t do this! You have to get out of the system now!!”

Dean flies and remains silent. Sam responds for him.

“Not an option, Castiel! We’re coming for you!  Get everyone, anyone!  Oh my God, this is it …”

Dean drops even lower, the _Ramble_ rising and falling as he skims buildings. The sky is completely red.  Tears fall down his face as he realizes this is the last time he’s going to see his home.  His world, quite literally, is ending.  He has to reach Castiel.  He can’t _not_ try.

When they finally come in view of the farm, Sam makes out four lonely figures trying to stand upright against the growing wind. He hopes Dean can hold the ship steady because he knows they only have minutes before it will be hurricane force or worse.

“Do it now, Sam, I can’t hold this long!” Dean calls to the retreating backside of his brother.

Sam races down the corridor to the small transporter pad. Meant only for ship-to-ship or ship-to-planet hops, Sam has no idea if he’ll be able to bring all five aboard.  He wonders who the others are but then routine procedure takes over and all his focus is on the controls.

The ship bucks to one side just as the transporter begins to whine … Dean shouts over the ship wide comm that he can’t hold it any longer. Sam counts heads and slams his palm down on the comm switch.

“GO DEAN, GO!”

Dean turns the ship, bids farewell to the house he grew up in and pushes his throttle hard forward. The _Ramble_ lunges for the darkening sky and Dean screams for Sam.  His brother joins him, hastily clicking into his harness again as they race to break orbit.  Sam is crying openly and Dean thinks he might be too – it’s too much to imagine the life of an entire planet is going to perish.  Not just the people but the creatures that have populated the seas, the skies and the lands since the Earth came into existence … all of them will die in a single horrifying moment.

For a moment, Dean almost feels the downward pull of the last bit of gravity Earth possesses … he sees a smaller ship beside them fall back and tumble into oblivion. The _Ramble_ , however, gives one last burst of speed and they hurtle into the dark toward familiar stars and planets. Behind them, the Earth breaks in two, ending life as anyone knows it on that once beautiful blue and white marble.  Dean barely registers his little brother’s arms wrapped around him or the anguished sobs that fill the cockpit.  They’re alive.

* * *

Dean whimpers as a thick stinging solution drips into his eyes. He’s past the tough guy portion of the evening … he’s reached the “I hurt and I’m scared” part of his act.  Gentle fingers card into his hair, soothing him.

“I know it hurts, Dean … I have to keep your eyes lubricated. Once the swelling goes down, we’ll be able to see the damage more clearly,” Castiel says in what Dean always referred to as his ‘doctory voice’.

Dean reaches up and grips the wrist belonging to the hand touching him. “Cas … you gotta tell me … am I – am I --?”

Castiel Novak smiles sadly at the familiar nickname. He leans over and gently brushes his lips across Dean’s forehead. “I don’t know, love. I don’t know.”

Dean trembles as he feels Castiel putting the bandages back in place and winding fresh gauze around his head. His sight had steadily worsened as they joined the survivors of the catastrophe at the edge of their galaxy. The PDS stations are all full to overflowing and ships are lined up for their turn at the facilities.  The chatter between ships is full of shock and grief.  Aboard the _Ramble_ , at least, they’re surrounded by family … and a dog.

“I still can’t believe you got a dog, Cas,” Dean says wonderingly.

Castiel chuckles, looking down at the pitch-black, very pregnant pit bull lying at his feet. “Impala found me, Dean.”

“Who the hell names their dog Impala?” Dean asks, knowing full well that Castiel named the dog after Dean’s treasured ’67 Chevy Impala. His ‘baby’ which he’d sold during the divorce to pay the court costs.

“It shortens nicely to ‘Imp’ which is what she is most days,” Castiel offers, knowing Dean has him figured out. “I suspect her puppies will be just as spoiled. Gabriel is incorrigible.”

Sitting up, leaning against his ex-husband’s familiar body, Dean feels safe and almost normal for the moment. Grounded, at least.  Knowing he could be completely blind is so devastating Dean can’t think about it so he just concentrates on small things for now.  The way Cas smells like the silly floral fabric softener he likes so much and lavender soap … the steadiness of his strong torso against Dean’s body … the feel of his fingers sliding into Dean’s.  It’s more than he ever believed he’d feel again.

“Angel …”

Castiel shushes him before speaking. “I finally forgave you the minute I heard your voice on the comm, Dean … we were both at fault but I will not allow us to waste whatever time we’ve been given now on foolish guilt.”

Dean tries to speak but he can’t. His throat is closed up and he’s making sounds like a fish out of water.  After the horrific events of the day, he can’t hold up his emotional guards and he collapses against Castiel, sobbing.  His once-lover holds him easily and makes soft soothing sounds as Dean grips him tightly, crying out all the anguish he never allowed himself to feel entirely when they divorced.

When he eventually exhausts himself, Dean falls asleep and Castiel eases him back into the cot to sleep. He slides in beside his ex-husband and listens to the man breathe while watching him.  Castiel still can’t believe Dean came back for him but he knows he was hoping even as the planet warnings began to sound.  He and Gabe were preparing in their own way to die together with Impala between them, but then a banging on the door brought in the other two survivors who are on the ship now – Ellen Harvelle and her daughter Jo.  Honorary members of the Winchester extended family; their survival was a good moment for Sam.  All in all, the realization that he lives is bittersweet for Castiel.  He does not know if his older brothers survived.  Gabriel is hiding his pain deeply in outward foolishness but Castiel knows his brother will eventually break and grieve.  They have one another at least and that is all that matters for now.

Castiel runs his hand gently through Dean’s dark blonde hair. He’s loved Dean for so long he can’t even recall what his life was like before the cocky, good-looking pilot sauntered into his life.  It humbles Castiel that they, out of so many, were fortunate enough to survive together.  He determines that no matter what he has to do he will be Castiel Winchester again and this time he will never leave Dean’s side.  Considering that Dean risked the lives of three people to come pick up his ex-husband, Castiel thinks he’s safe in assuming Dean will agree to his plan.

Dean jerks awake suddenly, arms flailing. “Cas?!?”

Castiel gently presses his arms down to the cot. “I’m here, love … I’m here. You’re alright, Dean.”

Dean grips Castiel’s hand. “God … I saw … you – we didn’t make it in time …”

“A bad dream, Dean … you made it in time … you saved me … you came back for me,” Castiel finds his own throat tightening.

“I had to, Cas … I can’t – losing you was the worst fucking thing I ever did – I couldn’t not try … I love you, Cas. I still love you. I never stopped.” Dean whispers.

Castiel finds himself kissing Dean before he realizes he’s even moved. The lips he dreams of on lonely nights press against his own and then open to him.  Familiar are the sensations as Castiel moves into the narrow bunk set against the hull.  He groans as Dean’s hands slide up into his hair holding them against one another while they plunder each other’s mouths.

Pulling away, Castiel curses softly when he knocks his head against the overhead bunk’s bottom. Dean chuckles. “Easy, angel, been a while since we did it shipboard. Close quarters.”

“I will manage, Dean … unless you want me to stop?”

“Fuck no, Cas … don’t you dare,” Dean groans as Castiel’s hand slides under his shirt and over his suddenly warm skin.

“I’ve missed you so much, Dean … I’ve missed this … us …” Castiel breathes between kisses. . “I love you … so much …”

“Cas … Cas … babe … please don’t leave me again. I’ll do whatever you want … please stay … please …” Dean begs, his fingers dancing over Castiel’s face. He can’t see the expression on his once-lover’s face but he thinks he feels a smile.

“I will never leave your side if you’ll have me, Dean,” Castiel whispers.

Dean kisses Castiel tenderly. “Promise?”

“Promise.”

“Cas … what if I can’t … what if I’m --?” Dean’s fear is palpable.

“I love you, Dean … I will be here no matter what and we will get through this,” Castiel promises. “We survived the end of the world … we’ll survive the rest.”

“You and me, Cas,” Dean whispers.

“Always.”

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr link: http://destielficletchallenge.tumblr.com/


End file.
